Escape, Escape - Two Times the Escape. Live Review B2B NCL Escape, Dec 9-16 & Dec 16-23

[Stealthdog]

Day 6 we did the loyalty wine tasting event in the  bar area of Moderno/Cagneys.  As a reminder, you can sign up with CruiseNext for this comolimentery event.  They create 4!tasting areas in the corners of the lobby, each representing a different country, Around the World party style.  For our event they had France, Australia, Portugal, and Spain.  They had other signs and may do other countries, probably depending on inventory and what they want to sell.  Each station had 2 types of wine for tasting.  There were about 30 people participating.  It’s a nice event and gesture as a loyalty event: 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

Dinner Day 6 we ate at Food Republic.  It is “Tapas style” (kind of), with a digital menu and ordering system, similar to some land based restaurant ordering systems.  Note - some of the plates are tapas size and some are full plates.  For example, the lamb comes out as 3 big lamb chops, which is normally its own meal, while the chicken miso and beef skewers are more typical tapas style plates for sharing. 
 

We enjoy this style of restaurant and had a nice time,  The views in the restaurant are outstanding - one of the best on board.  We enjoyed most of the plates and rank Food Republic 2nd tier with Bayamo, below Bistro and Cucina, but ahead of Cagneys.
 

With a package, each person is allowed to order 4 things.  The plates did not enjoy were the beef skewers - it was too dry and chewy, and Eric wasn’t overly fond of the sushi (don’t remember which one he ordered).  Everything else was very good - miso chicken, lamb chops, ramen, pad Thai, and a fried korean chicken plate.  We actually got 2 orders of the lamb. We didn’t order from the deserts - will try them next week:
 

Because it’s tapas style and you order directly from a digital menu from your table, the food comes out once the kitchen makes it.  We ordered 4 first, then the second four later.  Every plate comes out separately. . 

[Stealthdog]

Here is an example of the MDR lunch menu.  It changes daily.  Next week, I’ll take photos of the daily MDR menus.

 

We have 2 dinings left and will close out this leg of the B2B with Pinchos for lunch and Bistro for dinner.  Based on this week, we are going to redo our plans for dining on the 2nd leg - Bistro, Cucina, Bayamo, and Food Republic for sure.  We will cancel Cagney reservations and add 1 Moderno night. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

And now for the main event……..drumroll…….Choir of Man.  It’s as good as all the reviews.  One of the best shows we have ever seen on a cruise ship (some newer ships have impressive water, ice, and cirque du soleil style shows that are also amazing).  The story was fun and different, the pace and energy was awesome, and the emotion, particularly the curtain call song at the end was real.  You could tell these guys generally loved performing.  
 

We took the chance of sitting in the front row and I was rewarded with being called onto the stage to be part of the performance.  I need Eric to airdrop me the photos and I will post them later.  I hope I put on a good show!
 

If there is one show on the Escape to book and go see, it’s Choir of Man.  You won’t be disappointed.  We made reservations for the 2nd cruise when it opened on the app and are going to keep it so we can see it again.  We will probably not sit in the front next time so someone else can experience being part of the show.  😂

[Stealthdog]

Day 7 transitioned from being Great Stirrup Cay to a Sea Day.  We haven’t looked at the daily yet, so not really sure what we will do today besides eat and gamble.  😂

 

The biggest item on my to-do list is to check my account to make sure I spend any remaining non-refundable OBC.  I will probably buy a water package for the cabin in prep for cruise 2, and then spend the rest on the shops. 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Stealthdog

[D_And_K_gocruising]

Wow, you all have had some rough seas!   Looks like your in 13-15 footers now.. 

Really hope your 2nd leg is a bit more enjoyable.. 

[vacation44]

I am so happy we get another full week of this thread!

[Stealthdog]

1 hour ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

Wow, you all have had some rough seas!   Looks like your in 13-15 footers now.. 

Really hope your 2nd leg is a bit more enjoyable.. 

 

it’s crazy.  At least now I understand why the private island was canceled today.  Haven’t seen seas like this before.  Neither of us get motion or sea sick, so really not a problem.  At the gym now while Eric is at the spa - look at these whitecaps!  Another pic earlier from our balcony.

 

FYI - We were given $50 refundable OBC for Great Stirrup Cay being canceled.  Not sure if that is standard, but I’ll take it.  No announcements were made, but we saw it on our on board account.  Glad they did refundable and not nonrefundable!

Edited December 15, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

Eric strikes again.  We were part of the winning team at Bamboozled today.  He is definitely the brain…..I guess that makes me the beauty (lol…not really).  The winning prize was a little NCL bag.

 

For those unfamiliar with bamboozled, it’s like an escape room concept, but it’s all done on one table top and you don’t move to different areas.  It’s very family/kid friendly, so an activity a whole family or kids can participate in.  They put people in groups of six to work together on the puzzles and solve the mystery. It’s held in the supper club and they did the event multiple times throughout the cruise. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Stealthdog

[Stealthdog]

Day 7 daily.  I tried to lean forward and get a copy of the next cruise entertainment pamphlet and to adjust reservations for dining, but was given the stiff arm and told to come back tomorrow morning. 
 

Shore excursions did give me their port pamphlets for the next cruise.  We have Cayman booked.  We might look at doing some snorkeling in Cozumel. 

[www3traveler]

Did they finally get their Gingerbread Village display up?  If so, would you get kind enough to post pictures, please?

[wilmingtech]

@www3traveler

Edited December 15, 2023 by wilmingtech

[D_And_K_gocruising]

19 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Did they finally get their Gingerbread Village display up?  If so, would you get kind enough to post pictures, please?

LOL last week (12/2-12/9) I got to see them measuring and building the wood platform that is sitting on.... 

[www3traveler]

WOW!!  Impressive as always!!  

[slavetoabunny]

When you get in to port in the morning can you please post which terminal you are at?

[D_And_K_gocruising]

8 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

When you get in to port in the morning can you please post which terminal you are at?

Escape will be Terminal 10. 

[macewank]

Any announcements about the return to port tomorrow? I see Holland America has already adjusted some itineraries sailing out of Port Everglades for tomorrow because of the weather. News says it's going to be *foul* tomorrow. 

[wolft927]

Been following this post as we are on the Escape January 6th. Weather looks bad for tomorrow, watching the Nassau port Web Cam looks like almost all ships scheduled there today missed the port. I watched the Ships leave last night and all ships had tugs available to assist as the wind was blowing pretty good. 

[slavetoabunny]

Tracking the Escape and hoping there are no delays for tomorrow.

[wilmingtech]

19 minutes ago, slavetoabunny said:

Tracking the Escape and hoping there are no delays for tomorrow.

Light rain and cloudy.  No reason to have delays on the 9/16 sailing weather wise.  Just bring your umbrella because I don't think there is alot of shade where the line outside runs from the escalators around the corner to the drop off point.  We got there around noon on 12/9 and it was about a 15-20 min wait to get up the escalators.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

1 minute ago, wilmingtech said:

Light rain and cloudy.  No reason to have delays on the 9/16 sailing weather wise.  Just bring your umbrella because I don't think there is alot of shade where the line outside runs from the escalators around the corner to the drop off point.  We got there around noon on 12/9 and it was about a 15-20 min wait to get up the escalators.

Holy crap, we got there about 11:30 and just walked right thru everything and onto the ship!!   edit!! on the 12/2-12/9 sailing

Edited December 15, 2023 by D_And_K_gocruising

[slavetoabunny]

3 minutes ago, wilmingtech said:

Light rain and cloudy.  No reason to have delays on the 9/16 sailing weather wise.  Just bring your umbrella because I don't think there is alot of shade where the line outside runs from the escalators around the corner to the drop off point.  We got there around noon on 12/9 and it was about a 15-20 min wait to get up the escalators.

We are in the Haven and I believe there is a separate entrance at the terminal.  I do have the umbrella ready though.

[wilmingtech]

27 minutes ago, D_And_K_gocruising said:

Holy crap, we got there about 11:30 and just walked right thru everything and onto the ship!!   edit!! on the 12/2-12/9 sailing

With 4750 people on our sailing you just never know when everyone is going to show up.  It's never consistent. There was probably a bunch of people on your sailing that showed up early. I was hoping the same for our sailing but it was not.  I've got some stories but I'll save it for my post cruise review 🙂

[macewank]

34 minutes ago, wilmingtech said:

Light rain and cloudy.  No reason to have delays on the 9/16 sailing weather wise.  Just bring your umbrella because I don't think there is alot of shade where the line outside runs from the escalators around the corner to the drop off point.  We got there around noon on 12/9 and it was about a 15-20 min wait to get up the escalators.

 

Errr. That's not the weather reports I'm seeing. It's supposed to be heavy rain and mega windy. 

[D_And_K_gocruising]

2 minutes ago, macewank said:

 

Errr. That's not the weather reports I'm seeing. It's supposed to be heavy rain and mega windy. 

Only 25 mph and 2.5 inches of rain..